“They should be banned from Arsenal, if Arteta wants to succeed”: Arsenal legend blasts THREE Arsenal player who played for Brighton instead of Arsenal
“They should be banned from Arsenal, if Arteta wants to succeed”: Arsenal legend blasts THREE Arsenal player who played for Brighton instead of Arsenal
Arsenal were held to a draw with Brighton at the Emirates on an eventful afternoon in North London.
After the late theatrics of transfer Deadline Day, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal returned to the Emirates as more drama unfolded.
The Gunners picked up a point against Fabian Hurzeler’s well-structured side, starting the fixture in style mainly as a result of Bukayo Saka’s brilliance.
Just as Brighton started the creep into the game, the hosts broke the deadlock as Saka claimed his third assist of the season to set up Kai Havertz.
The German lobbed the ball neatly over Mark Verbruggen to finish expertly, continuing his exceptional scoring record when leading the line for Arsenal.
Arsenal faced an uphill battle in the second half as Declan Rice was bizarrely sent off, playing from the 49th minute with 10 men.
Following Rice’s dismissal, the game became far more open as expected, seeing Joao Pedro capitalise to net the visitors equaliser just before the hour mark.
A draw wasn’t the worst result however, it was an incredibly frustrating afternoon for the Gunners.
Arsenal player ratings v Brighton
David Raya – 6.5
Commanding in the box, let down by his defence in a rare occurrence for Brighton’s equaliser after making a good save to deny Danny Welbeck.
Jurrien Timber – 6
Smart defensively, patrolled the flank well but the left side was lacking connection throughout.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 6
Had a commanding first half but had to do better when defending Brighton’s equaliser.
William Saliba – 6.5
A different class as usual, marshalled the defence expertly.
Ben White – 6
So aware in possession, several strong switches but struggled at times to contain Kaoru Mitoma.
Thomas Partey – 5.5
Struggled to contain Brighton’s attack, had a difficult afternoon with Joao Pedro.
Declan Rice – 4
Not as involved as he usually is and was then sent off for receiving two yellow cards. The second yellow was perplexing to say the least, capping off a lacklustre day for the midfielder.
Martin Odegaard – 5.5
An unusually quiet afternoon for Odegaard, who was left jaded after suffering a knock in the first half, showed glimpses of brilliance nonetheless.
Bukayo Saka – 8
Saka was nothing short of unplayable in the first half, capped off by setting up Havertz to open the scoring. The Englishman was a nuisance for Jack Hinshelwood and prevailed as Arsenal’s firm man of the match.
Leandro Trossard – 5.5
Trossard as a substitute and Trossard as a starter are different players, as seen against Brighton. The Belgian struggled to get into the game, with the lack of chemistry on the left side hard to ignore.
Kai Havertz – 7
Havertz took his goal incredibly well, lobbing the ball over Verbruggen to continue his scoring record at the Emirates. The German might feel as though he should have scored in the second half to give Arsenal the lead.
Substitutes
Riccardo Calafiori – 6
A decent cameo from the versatile defender, who could have been in with the chance to score had Odegaard played him through in the second half.
Gabriel Martinelli – N/A
Oleksandr Zinchenko – N/A
